ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A half-year of worry ended Wednesday for Michelle Royer.
The 21-year-old Texas beauty awoke at 6 a.m. as the reigning Miss USA and her country's entry in the Miss Universe Pageant May 26 in Singapore. Her traditional breakfast in bed Wednesday morning, following the pageant finals Tuesday night, was merely the beginning of a day of pampering.
Winning the crown 'really won't hit me for a week or two,' she said.
She is the third straight Miss Texas to win the crown. Since qualifying for the contest six months ago, Royer said she has worried that judges would not select another winner from the Lone Star State, regardless of her attributes.
'I was totally numb when it got down to the final two. When they announced the runner-up, I looked right over at my state directors and they were jumping up and down. I just began to cry,' said Royer, a substitute teacher from Keller, a town of 8,000 near Fort Worth.
Royer was crowned by Miss USA 1986, Christy Fichtner of Dallas, and presented flowers by Miss Universe 1986, Barbara Palacics Teyde of Venezuela. Miss USA 1985 was Texan Laura Martinez-Herring.
'I think the Texas pageant directors are very good,' Royer said, explaining the state's success in the pageant. 'They don't teach us all to be the same. They let us be ourselves.'
This year's pageant was embroiled during its final day in a squabble between its longtime host, Bob Barker, and pageant officials over a production number featuring semifinalists wearing real fur coats. Barker, an animal activist, said he would refuse to appear if the furs were used on the show.
Barker, honored the night before for his 20 years as the show's emcee, prevailed, and the semfinalists wore fake fur coats during the number.
Wednesday morning, Royer, who is 5-foot-11 with brown hair and blue eyes, said her hectic year-long schedule begins quickly. After a flight to New York, she will appear on morning television programs Thursday and then be fitted for two new evening gowns.
Miss Florida, Clotilde Helen Cabrera of Tampa, was first runner-up. Next in order were Miss Arizona, Diane Lynn Martin; Miss Missouri, Dawn Theresa Fonseca and Miss Georgia, Sophia Marie Bowen.
Royer, who in the finals won the swimsuit and evening gown competition and was second in personality, won $200,000 in cash and prizes.
Asked about her future, Royer said, 'The other day I told a reporter I wanted to be a model. I'm really not sure now.'
Meanwhile, Tuesday night's telecast of the Miss USA Pageant earned its highest national Nielsen ratings in four years, scoring a 22.7 rating and 34 percent audience share. Last year's pageant scored an 18.1 rating and a 30 percent audience share.
Tuesday night's audience share increased from 29 percent in the first half hour to 38 percent for the finale, an indicator that many Americans may have tuned in to see the crowning of the new Miss USA, not a possible Barker comment on animal rights.
